My Year In Photos 2015
Well whadda ya know, a similar set up to My Month In Photos (read December's here), I have managed to scrabble together 52 photos that depict my 2015 in some way or another. What a hoot!
2015 has absolutely been the strangest year I have ever experienced. I finished university, I completed my degree show, I moved out of Wrexham and back home with my parents (read here), I became an Auntie, I got a 2:1 in my degree, I exhibited in London, I went on holiday a few times, I started a career as a freelance illustrator, I turned 23, I graduated, I passed my driving test, I bought a car and I moved in with my boyfriend. A whole load of changes and lovely things happened and personally, it was one of the toughest, stressful, most upsetting year of my life but I came out the other end with a heightened sense of perspective and what matters in life and what might be a bit more trivial. Hindsight is a marvellous thing.
Here are the 52 photos that make up my 2015. Thanks for sticking with me!
1. Beautiful Places & Spaces.
I have been lucky enough this year to go to enough beautiful places that my Instagram grid looks all travel inspo. I was even luckier to have most of these places on my doorstop. I didn't go abroad in 2015 and all of these photos were taken in Cardiff where I live, around Wrexham/North Wales where I used to live and in Bristol where my boyfriend used to live. Looking at life through a camera has taught me this year to appreciate the beauty around me, not just spend 3289482903 hours googling Bora Bora deals.
2. Holidays, Mini Breaks & Weekends Away.
I might not have gone abroad in 2015 but I did manage a few breaks at home. I spent a fortnight in Sussex & Kent (read here) with the parents and boyfriend, I spent a long weekend in Bristol with the other half whilst he still lived there, I went to London in March (more on that to come), I went to Essex in November to see some olden golden best friends and I spent two holidays at home in Wrexham. Yuh huh, I spent a week in April exploring North Wales from the comfort of my own bed (info here) and I spent 6 days exploring it again in June with my flatmate before we moved out. I would thoroughly recommend to anyone to have a holiday at home (literally), leaving your house every day to explore somewhere you've never been on your doorstep and then come home to your own bed, cos there really ain't anything better.
3. Winter Fun.
In February and March I spent a busy, hilarious few days with my extended family and my besties. I went to the Spring Fair in the NEC, Birmingham with uni and I went to London for my boyfriend's birthday where we had a manic overnight stay which encompassed train delays, being late to everything, a meal out, watch American Buffalo at the theatre, stay in a posh hotel and have the most expensive breakfast ever.
4. Wrexham.
This year saw my time in Wrexham come to an end and the closer and closer it got the more I held on firmly to the traditions I had kept there. To the monthly cinema dates with the bestie, to spending some with my three musketeers (Stacey, Jonny, and Tania), to nights staying up till 3am talking, to doing no work in uni and just having a laff (I got a degree in the end it's fine), to going out and wandering town, to shopping on a Saturday and every time being like WHY DID WE DO THIS IT'S SO BUSY, to dinner at Les' chippy, to midnight snacks and second teas, to mac and cheese and pasta and cheese and cheesy wedges....I held on to all of these lovely things and refused to let go and the last day was pretty sad. The last photo in the grid is of the mess I made of my room after a 5am start so there's that for you to enjoy too.
5. Finishing University.
Probably the biggest change this year was finishing uni and leaving town. I had SUCH a good time at university and made friends for life and made hilarious memories and laughed about things for far too long, far too loudly. It was an absolute blast (for the last two years, the first one was a bit poor) and I was hideously proud to exhibit in Wrexham in May (read about that here) even if my name was spelt wrong.
6. Coming Home.
As much as I hated leaving Wrexham and making the move 4 hours away back down to South Wales, there were some positives. Namely, living with the loon that is my cat again, spending some time with my family, mumma's home cooking and my own bed. I also celebrated 5 years with this one (top left) which was all cute and stuff.
7. New Designers, London.
I won't keep banging on and on about New Designers 2015 in London because I wrote a shed load of blog posts about it (find here) but it was honestly one of the best, funniest, hottest weeks of my life with these two losers. Planning the next one mentally.
8. Palz.
Absolutely one of the best things about this year has been my friends. I managed to fill my last weeks in Wrexham doing fun things with them only to go spend a week in London with them and then graduate with them too (more on that later) and I spent this summer spending quality time with this lovely lot (read about some here ). Thank you to all for this year and especially to those who laughed with me about my life and told me to go on Jeremy Kyle and didn't let me wallow for a second longer. You know who you are you beauties. -insert heart emojis here-
9. Graduations.
I think I over emphasised how excited for graduation I was and how lovely it was to spend a few days away with my besties and to be back in Wrexham and how proud I felt to walk across the stage with my friends so I won't bang on about it again (post here). Instead here are some photos of my day and of the other half's when he graduated in July from Bristol.
10. Becoming An Auntie.
Undoubtedly the best thing of 2015 was the addition to my family of my brother's little girl. Even at 7 months old she is the BEST company, heck, she was the best thing ever since the day I met her when she was 2 hours old and she is an absolute joy to have. I count myself incredibly lucky that I have the type of relationship with her that I have and whilst I'm not posting any photos of her, the bottom image is my face when I was holding her for the first time which I think speaks volumes even if Auntie Gwennan is still a bit weird to stomach.
